DIY liberation
Last year I built my own PC, as it was due an upgrade and I felt like a bit of a challenge. At the time I avoided adding a GPU to play games due to costs, but a few months ago decided to take the plunge and got a high-end GPU and an Xbox controller. The GPU came with four free games: Far Cry 3, Sleeping Dogs, Tomb Raider, and BioShock Infinite. As someone who had not invested in either an Xbox or PlayStation 3, I have been liberated!

Far Cry was incredible, but I then followed it up with BioShock, which I think has the best ending to a game I’ve ever seen. After playing it I’ve realised what an incredible feat it must have been to create it. It was so fresh and original. I’m just hoping that Grand Theft Auto V comes out on PC, preferably at the same time as the consoles.BohemianBuoy

Jeans and a T-shirt
Tuned into the Blurb yesterday (Sunday) morning and was pleasantly surprised. Much better than it was. Gone was the shockingly wooden clotheshorse presenter and in her place was a thoroughly charming young lady, who seems to actually care about the subject rather than blindly reading off of an autocue.

She was even rocking the traditional gamers (at least for me!) attire of geeky T-shirt, jeans and hoody. Could it be than telly execs have finally cottoned on to what their target market actually want in terms of a games-based show? One can hope. In any case… I think I have a new TV presenter crush. Sorry Ms. Willoughby…Colin1138 (gamertag)
PS: On the subject of games telly… what’s the deal with Playr? Is it finished for good (again),or just on a break?
PPS: Any chance of the GC gang ever doing telly again. Jenkins and his socks need to be back on our screens! Would a Kickstarter campaign be in order?

Supermarket sweep
I’m not hugely drawn towards strategy games in all honesty, however, after reading your review of Fire Emblem: Awakening on 3DS, I thought hey let’s give it a go! This led me to a problem, actually finding a copy of the game! Being one of those sort of people who once gets something in there head, it’s mission time until I get my hands on it! But the supermarkets we came across that day didn’t stock it anywhere and the only Blockbuster that’s open near us now also ‘haven’t received any copies, but we’ve been asked about it loads’.

So I had to go into town, park up, pay car parking fees and went to GAME. They had it. Thank god. Well done GAME I say and a big Vs up to the supermarkets and their, frankly, ‘market ruining movements’. I’m traditional in the way I love the buzz of a new game coming out and that magic of going to pick up the hard copy of a new release you want. So if the supermarkets want to shy away from keeping the non-blockbuster games on the shelf, I can’t see how the future wouldn’t become purely digital download only. I think that’s a huge shame and even though I could be accused of ‘not liking the change’ I’m confident I’m not the only one out there that feels this way.Raggedyryan (gamertag)
PS: GC, when’s your top 20 of 2013 coming, I thought it would be here just after Easter?

GC: Monday is UK chart day, so we added the first one this week. It’s only a top 10 at the moment, but we’ll extend it when there are the games to justify it. It’s supposed to be updated every week but we do tend to forget sometimes, so just give us a nudge if we do.

Buy in bulk
I’m just writing in to GC to reply to cmullerj`s comment in the Inbox about PS one Tomb Raider. I too regard that game very highly and its atmosphere and tough puzzles, etc. The recent Tomb Raiders have never given me that wow experience as the first game did all those years ago. I notice in PlayStation Store they’re selling PS one games in packs now like Resident evil 1, 2, and 3 at a reasonable price. But they’re strangely selling them individually for a higher price? Odd.cosmic250 (PSN ID)

Informed opinion
Can I put my shell suit, shaggy perm wig and ‘70s ‘tache on for a minute and suggest people ‘calm down, calm down’ over the Dead Island: Riptide review? It’s just a reviewer’s opinion, an opinion! What do you all want? For him to lie and pretend he likes the game? I’ve always found it funny where readers that disagree with a review of an album, game, movie, etc. cite other, favourable reviews almost as if the world’s critics should be meeting up and agreeing to give the same score. But then that’s what passion and devotion can do to a person I guess.

I remember thinking how I should give the original Dead Island a whirl after all the positive mini-reviews in the In and Underboxes at the time and I still do (usual excuse, too many games and too few hours in the day) but I don’t remember those being as vitriolic compared to the responses for Riptide.

I guess I’ve been spoiled by Big Angry Dad’s (such a woefully inaccurate name apart from him being a dad and presumably big?) various letters where his enthusiasm is infectious but he seems to be able to big up his games without taking pot shots at people that didn’t share his love.

Having said that there seems to be some confusion as to whether Riptide is a full price or a budget release. If it was priced at an expansion pack level would GC have given it a different score or been slightly less scathing?Meestah Bull (gamertag)

GC: Whatever was said in the Underbox we’ve had hardly anything in on it via the Inbox. The RRP is £39.99; it’s a rubbish expansion to an already deeply flawed game, we wouldn’t give it the time of day let alone a different score.

Wait and see
GC, from what I’ve seen of the Star Trek video game, I’ve been quite impressed. Yes, there are elements borrowed from Mass Effect, Uncharted and even Dead Space, but it looks a very polished game. Whilst it may not have originality going in its favour, beggars can’t be choosers when it comes to licensed games. Go on GC, give us a hint what it’s like?

It’s been in development for over 3 years, so I’m hopeful it will buck the trend of the licensed video game and turn out to be good. It certainly looks authentic, and the voice acting (provided by the cast) is a cut above most games. I’m increasingly confident it may be decent… cue a 4/10 scathing from GC. Don’t ever dare you after upsetting Dead Island fans – surely not Trekkies in the same week?

I’m no Trekkie, but if this game is good, I could be converted. Into Darkness looks great mind.Up4Banter

GC: We can’t say anything until the European review embargo ends on Friday, although we imagine the American one will probably be over by the time you read this. But what are you in such a hurry for, given it’s a game you only seem lukewarm on and that’s based on a licence you don’t care about?

Fur flying
RE: Renaissance Man. Yes! I’m glad to hear the multiplayer on Conker’s Bad Fur Day getting some love! I introduced it to all my mates at school and discovered that it took about 30-40 minutes (of confusion and mutterings of ‘what is this?!’) for anyone to get into it, but once they had it barely left my Nintendo 64.

War was probably the favourite, but Beach was always a good change of pace. One of my mates was lethal with the rocket launcher emplacement. Now you’ve made me want to set my Nintendo 64 up again!Sparky the Yak

Risky pricing
Regarding cost of games and some not minding should the prices go up sorry but that’d be suicidal for a lot of publishers given how several are currently struggling to hit the predicted numbers even for AAA games. Yes, games are more expensive to produce, yes the cost has remained largely on par with 10-15 years ago and yes businesses need to make a profit but factor in that you’ve now got a userbase that has more than doubled since the SNES/Mega Drive days and that’s hell of a lot of customers to sell into to not only recoup costs but make a tidy profit.

Fact is that common sense needs to prevail and publishers really need to keep a tab on spiralling costs. If you’ve got 150 million plus PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 owners and you’re struggling to hit sales for multiplatform games that equate to even 5% of the total userbase (as a top end prediction) then you know you’ve got issues with either the quality of your products or its pricing. It’s not rocket science but surely a lowering of the cost would accelerate sales, generate greater revenue which in time will result in the all-important profits. In economic terms it’s referred to as the elasticity of demand. This might not prove popular with retailers but personally I couldn’t care less as they’re not the ones who’ve produced the game.

I’m sure a lower overall cost of games will also ensure that those sitting on the fence or waiting for second-hand deals will jump aboard a lot sooner and buy new instead. Case in point Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen which was a no-brainer for me at £13 from Asda. At that price I can take the risk without blinking twice something which would not have been the case had it been priced over £20.Sam

Inbox also-rans
I was sent a tweet from Ubisoft yesterday, that I thought I’d share with GC readers. Especially,
Wii U owners. @Ubisoft: #SplinterCell Blacklist is coming to the Wii U. See it in action for the first time here.woz_007 (Nintendo ID)

So I see Phil Fish (maker of FEZ) has been acting like a git again, why is he so keen for everyone to hate him?Paulie

This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Xane, who asks what is your favourite sound effect in a video game or made by a console?

Ignoring music entirely what’s your favourite sound and why? Is it because you just like the noise itself or is it what the sound means or is alerting you too? Is nostalgia a part of why you like it and has the sound been used often, as part of a long-running franchise?

How important is sound design to a good game and which titles do you think have the best overall use of sound? Do you use your favourite sounds anywhere else, such as ringtones or alerts on your phone? And do you have a least favourite sound, and why?